Dr John Tate

Career Summary

Biography

I was appointed as the foundation lecturer in Politics at the University of Newcastle in August 1997. Since that time Politics has steadily grown to the point that, by 2014, we have five full time staff members. I teach across six different Politics subjects in areas such as Australian politics, international relations, political philosophy, Australian public policy, and the politics of globalisation. My primary research interest is in the areas of political philosophy and history of political thought, but I have also published widely in such areas as Australian Prime Ministers, Australian sovereignty and New Zealand native title. Regarding political philosophy I am particularly interested in the philosophy and practice of toleration, particularly as it is negotiated and applied within the liberal tradition. Regarding history of political thought, I am interested in the foundations and development of the liberal tradition. At present, my work in this last area concerns the political philosophy of John Locke. My publications have appeared in a number of international journals including Political Theory, Political Studies, Philosophy and Social Criticism, Journal of European Studies and Telos, as well as national journals such as Australian Journal of Political Science and Australian Journal of Politics and History.

Research ExpertiseMy primary research expertise is in the area of political philosophy and history of political thought. Concerning political philosophy I am interested in toleration, free speech, and the extent to which liberal democracies ought to accommodate non-liberal values and practices. This question of the extent to which liberal democracies ought to accommodate such difference is a salient one within contemporary polities, given the rise of religious fundamentalism and other movements that do not embrace liberal values. I am also interested in the relationship between toleration and free speech, not least whether a tolerant society requires an expansion of, or limits upon, free speech. I am particularly interested in this question as it relates to events such as the Rushdie or Danish Cartoons Affair. Concerning the history of political thought, I am interested in the foundations and the development of the liberal tradition. Currently I am working on the political philosophy of the seventeenth century English philosopher, John Locke, who is widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of the liberal tradition, at least within the English-speaking world. But I am also interested in other major figures, influential on the development of liberal ideas, such as Voltaire and other figures influential within the eighteenth century Enlightenment, as well as nineteenth century figures such as John Stuart Mill. I am interested in Australian government and politics, in particular, Australian Prime Ministers. I have published journal articles on Paul Keating and John Howard. In conjunction with Martin Drum from the University of Notre Dame, Western Australia, I have published a textbook on Australian politics for Australian university students - Martin Drum and John William Tate, "Politics in Australia" (South Yarra: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). Finally, I am interested in Comparative Government and Politics, particularly regarding Australia, the United States and Britain. This concerns areas of constitutional law (particularly as this relates to free speech) and also questions of comparative sovereignty.

Teaching ExpertiseI have had to cover a wide range of topics within Politics in my teaching career as from 1997 to 2005 there were only two Politics staff to teach the Politics major in the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Science at the University of Newcastle. We therefore had to cover the entire major between us, as well as the fourth year Honours courses. The areas in which I have consistently taught courses since 1997 at the University of Newcastle are political theory, history of political thought, politics of globalisation, Australian politics, Introduction to Politics, Australian public policy and international relations. I also taught a course entitled Politics and Power in Asia for a number of years.

Administrative ExpertiseChair of the Faculty Library Committee for a number of years. Member of Faculty Carbon Footprint Committee (chaired by Associate Professor Kala Saravanamuthu). Head of Discipline in Politics & International Relations 2010-2012.

Qualifications

PhD, University of Sydney

Bachelor of Economics, University of Sydney

Bachelor of Economics (Honours Class I), University of Sydney

Keywords

Australian Politics and Government

Australian Prime Ministers

Australian Public Policy

Foundations of Liberalism

History of Political Thought

International Relations

Introduction to Politics

New Zealand Native Title

Political Philosophy

Political Theory

Politics of Globalisation

State Sovereignty

Toleration

Fields of Research

Code

Description

Percentage

160601

Australian Government and Politics

20

160603

Comparative Government and Politics

20

160609

Political Theory and Political Philosophy

60

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title

Organisation / Department

Senior Lecturer

University of NewcastleNewcastle Business SchoolAustralia

Academic appointment

Dates

Title

Organisation / Department

1/06/1997 - 1/08/1997

Part-Time Lecturer

University of WollongongSchool of History and PoliticsAustralia

1/02/1997 - 1/06/1997

Casual Tutor

Department of

History and Politics

University of WollongongSchool of History and PoliticsAustralia

1/02/1996 - 1/11/1996

Casual Tutor

The University of New South WalesSchool of PoliticsAustralia

1/02/1996 - 1/11/1997

Casual Tutor

University of Western SydneyDepartment of Media and Cultural Studies (Nepean)Australia

1/02/1992 - 1/11/1992

Casual Tutor

The University of New South WalesSchool of PoliticsAustralia

1/02/1991 - 1/11/1994

Casual Tutor

The University of New South WalesSchool of Liberal and General StudiesAustralia

Book (1 outputs)

Chapter (1 outputs)

Year

Citation

Altmetrics

Link

2014

Tate J, 'The Australian Leviathan: Sovereignty, Sedition and Dissent', Australian Scholarly Publishing's essays 2014: Politics: the first volume of a new series of works by Australian scholars, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne 99-118 (2014) [B1]

Journal article (19 outputs)

Year

Citation

Altmetrics

Link

2015

Tate JW, 'The introduction of Australian digital television: Politics, policy and power', AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, 50 297-314 (2015)

Conference (7 outputs)

Tate JW, 'Locke, Politics, and the Limits of Theology', Proceedings of the 62nd Annual International Conference of the Political Studies Association, Belfast, Ireland (2012) [E2]

2012

Tate JW, 'French headscarves and American school prayer: Liberalism and republicanism in the French and American public spheres', Proceedings of the 62nd Annual International Conference of the Political Studies Association, Belfast, Ireland (2012) [E2]

2012

Tate JW, 'French headscarves and American flags: Liberalism and republicanism in the French and American public sphere', XXII World Congress of the International Political Science Association, Madrid, Spain (2012) [E3]